MOGADISHU (Halbeeg News) – U.S. military killed 62 Al-Shabaab fighters in six air strikes for the last two days in the vicinity of Gandarsh some 45 km south of the capital Mogadishu.
In a statement, Africa Command (Africom) said four strikes were carried out on Saturday, killing 34 Al-Shabaab, and two more on Sunday, which killed 28.
“Africa Command and our Somali partners conducted these air strikes to prevent terrorists from using remote areas as a safe haven to plot, direct, inspire and recruit for future attacks,” Africom said in a statement.
“To support the Federal Government of Somalia’s continued efforts to degrade Al-Shabaab, U.S. forces conducted a total of four (4) precision airstrikes targeting Al-Shabaab militants in the vicinity of Gandarshe, Somalia, December 15, 2018.”
The U.S. military has vowed to continue piling pressure on Al-Shabaab fighters who have been operating in Somalia for more than one decade.
“U.S. Africa Command will continue to work with its partners to transfer the responsibility for long-term security in Somalia from the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) to the Federal Government of Somalia and its Member States, and U.S. forces will use all effective and appropriate methods to protect the Somali people, including partnered military counter-terror operations with the Federal Government of Somalia, AMISOM and Somali National Army forces,” the statement stated.
In November, more than 50 Al-Shabaab were killed in a similar attack staged by US forces.
On October 16, an airstrike left 60 dead in Central Somalia.
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